Timothée Chalamet, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson, Josh Brolin, Stellan Skarsgård, Dave Bautista, Charlotte Rampling, and Javier Bardem reprise their roles from the first film, with Austin Butler, Florence Pugh, Christopher Walken, and Léa Seydoux joining the cast.

Delayed from a November 2023 release date due to the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, Dune: Part Two premiered at the Auditorio Nacional in Mexico City on February 6, 2024.

On Arrakis, Stilgar's Fremen troops accompany Paul Atreides and his pregnant Bene Gesserit mother, Lady Jessica, to Sietch Tabr.

The Fremen accept Paul but Stilgar tells Jessica she must succeed Sietch Tabr's dying Reverend Mother by drinking the Water of Life—a drug fatal for both males and untrained women.

Feyd-Rautha unleashes a devastating attack on the northern Fremen, destroying Sietch Tabr, killing Shishakli, and forcing Paul and the survivors to journey south.

Previously summoned by the Baron, the Great Houses arrive in orbit, ready to invade the planet, but Paul threatens to destroy the spice fields with atomic weapons if they intervene.

[11] Vice chair of worldwide production for Legendary Mary Parent began discussing with Denis Villeneuve about directing a film adaptation, quickly hiring him after realizing his passion for Dune.

"[25] On October 26, 2021, Legendary officially greenlit Dune: Part Two, with a spokesperson for the company stating, "We would not have gotten to this point without the extraordinary vision of Denis and the amazing work of his talented crew, the writers, our stellar cast, our partners at Warner Bros., and of course the fans!

[44][45] Feeling he had the "benefit of time" in doing so, Villeneuve decided to use all the elements of Paul's character arc and "play them a bit differently" in order to establish his eventual transformation into a villainous figure and becoming "what he was trying to fight against".

[48] Following the first film, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is described as being heavily debilitated and reliant upon being submerged in fluids, while focusing on choosing an heir: Glossu "Beast" Rabban or Feyd-Rautha, both his nephews.

[41] Actor Austin Butler felt Feyd-Rautha's character served as "flip sides of the same coin" to Paul, as both had been involved in the Bene Gesserit's genetic breeding program.

[49] Lady Jessica is heavily traumatized by the death of Duke Leto, being compared to Paul as a "survivor" and strategizing to realize the ambitions of the Bene Gesserit, who aim to fulfill their prophecy to maximize human potential, disregarding morality and ethics.

There is additional focus on the political aspect, with Princess Irulan fearing that her father, Emperor Shaddam IV, will lose his throne due to his loss of influence over warring factions.

[7] Like Chani and Lady Jessica, Villeneuve further developed Princess Irulan's character and motivations from the novel, with actress Florence Pugh noting her reserved nature and intelligence.

[41] The scene of Paul's sandworm ride was filmed practically on a production unit, separate from the main one, led by producer Tanya Lapointe and a special team.

[86] Variety called it "breathtaking";[87] GQ hailed the shots of Paul riding a sandworm as "the standout sequence";[88] and Fangoria remarked: "If you're not excited for this one, we dunno what to tell you.

[99] A month later, Paul and Feyd-Rautha were added as playable operators to its sequel, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023), with an additional Harkonnen soldier skin being announced in March 2024.

Red carpet content was prioritized to appeal to female audiences, a tactic that contributed to an estimated $2 million increase in the opening box office.

[105] In January 2024, images of a forthcoming Dune-themed popcorn bucket from AMC Theatres went viral and became an Internet meme after its sandworm-inspired design was compared to an artificial vagina.

[106][107][108] Reactions to the bucket received millions of views on the social network TikTok,[109] and jokes about it were featured on US late-night television, including a musical sketch on Saturday Night Live with cast members Marcello Hernandez, Devon Walker, Bowen Yang, and episode host Ayo Edebiri.

[115] The product was one of several popcorn buckets AMC had designed and released alongside recent films, including character heads for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and "burn books" for Mean Girls.

[129][130] On January 16, 2024, the film was shown to a dying man in a palliative care home in the Canadian city of Saguenay, in Denis Villeneuve's native province of Quebec.

Josée Gagnon, the cofounder of a company aiming to accompany people at the end of life, relayed his wish to Villeneuve and Tanya Lapointe, his partner and one of the film's producers, through a viral call-out on Facebook.

[133] The pair initially offered to invite the man to see Dune: Part Two in Los Angeles or Montreal, but since he was too weak to travel, Villeneuve eventually decided to send one of his assistants directly to Saguenay with his private laptop.

The website's consensus reads: "Visually thrilling and narratively epic, Dune: Part Two continues Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of the beloved sci-fi series in spectacular form.

"[167] Other filmmakers, including Edward Berger, Francis Ford Coppola, Adam Elliot, Jeff Fowler, Reinaldo Marcus Green, Luca Guadagnino, Max Hechtman, David Lowery and Gints Zilbalodis cited it as among their favorite films of 2024.

In The Hollywood Reporter, Lovia Gyarkye praised the film's technical aspects and performances, but found it failed to fully adapt the book's nuance on themes such as imperialism.

[172] At the more negative end, Noah Berlatsky writing for CNN judged that the film had failed to "present an effective anti-colonial vision" by still being centred around Paul's destiny despite an increased voice of opposition from Chani.

[173] Some commentators have criticized the film for failing to adequately deal with the original book's Middle East and North Africa (MENA) influences or otherwise incorporate enough representation from the region.

[174] Furvah Shah, writing for the UK edition of Cosmopolitan, said she "felt frustrated as a Muslim viewer", criticizing the film for a lack of MENA casting among the leads despite the use of the region's culture and superficial use of Islam.